Evolution Points, Let Me See Your Limits!

The guides on the hidden forums, along with the tragic experiences of player after player, all made it clear just how dangerous the Eternal Continent was.

Venturing out to explore, fighting tooth and nail for survival—that might get you killed faster. But hiding in your own territory forever wasn't safe either.

Half a day, a full day, two days—a newborn territory would eventually be discovered by wild monsters, followed by endless harassment and invasion.

Mu Yuan knew that this broken-down village of his would be invaded sooner or later, but...

Couldn't it at least take a little longer?

His Evolution Points had piled up to 0.88. He was so close! Damn it!

He worried that his skeleton with the Appearance of an Emperor would get wiped out before it could even grow. Worrying was useless, though. The enemy would be on the battlefield in thirty seconds. He had to face them.

"On guard!"

He issued the order to all his Little Skeletons, then looked them over one by one. Sure enough, a few of the dumber ones were already swinging their Chopping Knives, trying to charge out of the village and fight the invaders to the death.

Mu Yuan quickly circled his mouse and dragged them back.

He'd literally taught them this before! Damn it!

The Little Skeletons tilted their skulls, empty eye sockets flickering with confusion and bewilderment.

Mu Yuan: "..." Forget it, forget it. He'd expected this.

There were plenty of places to hide in the broken-down village, but expecting these skeletons to ambush the enemy from the shadows and land a killing blow? That wasn't realistic.

After all, the only direct commands he could give were 'move', 'attack', and 'defend'. Everything else depended on the unit's own intelligence.

The Door Panel Skeleton—that one Little Skeleton with intelligence far beyond its peers, the one with the Appearance of an Emperor—held a blade in one hand and a door-shield in the other, standing firm in front of the trap zone.

Nice. Great instincts.

Mu Yuan did a simple formation setup, then controlled his own character to hide in a concealed spot.

Survival wasn't shameful.

And at that moment, the wolf pack entered the village. Their vicious eyes swept around, quickly locking onto the most conspicuous Door Panel Skeleton.

"Thirteen Gray Wolves... that's not good..."

Mu Yuan's expression turned grim.

"Gray Wolf (Common ★): A common beast, at the very bottom of the Eternal Continent's food chain."

Sure, these Gray Wolves looked malnourished, and the description called them trash-tier. But... his Little Skeletons were also bottom-tier cannon fodder units, and they were outnumbered.

This fight was going to be rough.

The Gray Wolves, emboldened by their numerical advantage, went berserk. They shifted from a slow walk to a sprinting pounce.

They were coming!

They fell into the traps!

A pit collapsed, and one Gray Wolf tumbled in. Sharpened wooden stakes pierced its flesh, blood streaming out. But the other wolves nimbly swerved around the pit. One or two that couldn't stop in time fell in, only to leap out by stepping on the wolf below, making it yelp in pain.

The other crude traps barely did anything. Soon, the Gray Wolves clashed with the Little Skeletons at close range.

These Gray Wolves had sharp claws and fangs, agile movements. If this were open ground, they'd probably overwhelm the skeletons with speed. Luckily, the village's complex terrain worked in Mu Yuan's favor. He'd already positioned his Little Skeletons in key spots, backs against trees or houses, using the terrain to fight the wolves.

The two sides clashed, and the scene was...

A battle of the weak.

The Little Skeletons had no technique—they just swung their rusty Chopping Knives wildly. But the wild Gray Wolves weren't much smarter either. They bit down on the skeletons' bones, chomping hard. Even if they snapped a rib or two, it didn't matter to a skeleton that felt no pain. It just turned around and slashed back.

Blood splattered from the wolves, ugly wounds opening up.

But it wasn't enough.

Even though the skeletons had a slight edge by trading blows, their bodies were taking damage. And with more wolves, if this kept up, there would be losses.

These were his hardworking Evolution Point machines! How could Mu Yuan afford to lose them?!

"I need to focus fire. Take out some of the wolves first."

Right now, the Door Panel Skeleton was a sight to behold. Swinging its massive door shield, relying on the defensive fortifications, it was single-handedly holding off four Gray Wolves, even making them hesitate to attack.

Good.

But Mu Yuan didn't send other skeletons to reinforce it. Instead, he looked at the other battlefields—Little Skeletons were fighting Gray Wolves in small groups, locked in stalemates.

"In a fight, you need to outnumber the enemy, hit them where they're weak. Only by concentrating fire and breaking through one point can you snowball the advantage."

Mu Yuan started micro-managing.

There wasn't much he could do, but he could order the Little Skeletons to keep switching positions.

One skeleton with high aggro went into defense mode, using obstacles to hold the line. Mu Yuan quickly grouped three or four other skeletons into a squad and sent them after the nearest Gray Wolf.

Blades rained down. The first victim wolf whimpered, collapsing in a bloody mess.

Then the second. The third.

At the same time, more skeleton units were freed up. Mu Yuan directed them to the next battlefield.

His eyes darted, fingers tapping, rapidly switching between quick commands. Sometimes forming squads, sometimes pulling out one or two Little Skeletons to reinforce comrades on the verge of collapse.

Soon, over half of the Gray Wolf Pack had fallen, while his skeletons had yet to suffer a single casualty beyond two with limping legs.

It was already a dominant battle!

But what astonished Mu Yuan was that, despite being at such a disadvantage, these gray wolves showed no intention of tucking their tails and fleeing. Their eyes grew increasingly bloodshot, radiating a savage, death-defying aura.

They truly had no regard for their lives.

One gray wolf rammed into the Door Panel Skeleton as if sacrificing itself, its icy claws slashing down viciously. The thick door panel, already battered by many attacks, shattered with a bang.

The Door Panel Skeleton froze. It did possess some intelligence, but this situation exceeded its CPU's processing capacity. As the gray wolf lunged, it grabbed its Chopping Knife and charged forward.

Fierce as hell!

But... that was way too reckless.

As it turned out, setting aside its intellect, it was still just an ordinary Little Skeleton, far from capable of taking on four opponents alone. Soon, it was tackled to the ground and torn at relentlessly.

Danger!

By the time Mu Yuan timely redirected other skeletons to reinforce it, the Door Panel Skeleton had already lost a chunk of its arm. If the gray wolves weren't dumb enough to target the head, this slightly intelligent skeleton would have been done for.

"Play it safe! Only by staying alive can you deal damage, got it?!"

"When dealing with enemies, we don't need to talk about martial honor. Learn to use every resource—dig pits when you can, throw lime when you can, gang up when you can. Only those who survive to the end are the victors!"

This was his ace general!

If the Door Panel Skeleton had been a bit more cautious, even if its door panel got torn off, it wouldn't have ended up in a life-or-death crisis within seconds.

Whether the skeleton understood or not, Mu Yuan started lecturing nonstop, from the art of playing it safe to being a sly old fox, from the basics of steadiness to burying enemies with dug-up dirt. He only stopped after taking a sip of water.

On the Eternal Continent, watching the lord leave to inspect the territory, the Door Panel Little Skeleton scratched its skull thoughtfully, a glimmer of wisdom shining in its eyes.

Compared to most players' early encounters on the forum, Mu Yuan's battle was far more dangerous, facing an attack from 13 gray wolves at once.

But he achieved excellent results.

All Little Skeletons survived.

This was thanks to his early preparations and the Door Panel Skeleton's bravery. Of course, it also relied heavily on his micro-management.

If the Little Skeletons had fought the gray wolves on their own, even if they won, few would have made it out alive.

Still, most Little Skeletons were badly injured, with some already at 'critical health,' their heads nearly falling off.

"No panic. As long as they're not dead, it's fine."

"Injured units can slowly recover using Soul Sand, and as for Soul Sand..."

Of the thirteen dead gray wolves, nine emitted a faint glow.

Mu Yuan controlled his character, walking forward under the protection of two fully combat-ready Little Skeletons, picking them up one by one.

"Obtained Soul Sand 1.5g."

"Obtained Soul Sand 0.8g."

"Obtained Soul Sand 1.1g."

"Obtained..."

One after another, crystals like grains of sand, shimmering with a magnificent luster, appeared.

Mu Yuan distributed the Soul Sand to the injured skeletons. How to use it seemed to be instinctive for the units. He couldn't teach it, nor did he need to.

All he could do was urge them to recover quickly.

"Low-level units recover faster, but it still takes several hours at least. Severe injuries take half a day to a day."

"To shorten this time, you'd need units with healing abilities, but those are even rarer and harder to find."

"During this recovery period, a player's combat strength takes a hit. If monsters attack, it's even more dangerous. Besides, some players lose units in battle—that's a permanent loss."

"If gains fall short of losses, the player slides downhill, spiraling into a vicious cycle until defeat."

In this battle, they had taken down a considerable number of gray wolves, and the rewards were decent.

After deducting the Soul Sand used for recovery, Mu Yuan estimated he could still nurture one or two Level 2 skeletons.

On the forum, some players had upgraded Little Skeletons to Level 2. Their movements were noticeably less clumsy, their frames slightly larger, their bones glossier, and their combat power clearly improved.

Clearly, even Little Skeletons could gain formidable strength if they kept leveling up.

But absorbing Soul Sand to level up also took time.

What he lacked most right now was time, so maybe...

"Evolution Points, let me see your limits!"